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Thursday, November 04, 2010

Qantas plane A380 makes emergency landing in Singapore

Technicians look at the damaged engine of Qantas Airways A380 passenger plane QF32 after it was forced to make an emergency landing at Changi airport in Singapore November 4, 2010. Image Credit: Reuters

A Qantas jetliner made an emergency landing Thursday in Singapore with 459 people aboard, after one of its four engines shut down over western Indonesia and following witness reports of a blast that sent debris hurtling to the ground.
The airliner denied there had been any explosion, and said the plane landed safely.

Witnesses on the western Indonesian island of Batam reported hearing a large blast and seeing pieces of debris - including panels painted white and red - falling onto houses.

A Qantas statement said the double-decker A380 plane, which is capable of carrying about 500 passengers, experienced an "engine issue" soon after taking off from Singapore for Sydney.

It made a safe emergency landing in Singapore with 433 passengers and 26 crew on board, the statement said.

"The aircraft landed safely at 11:45 am local time," the statement said. "Some media reports suggested the aircraft had crashed. These reports are incorrect. No Qantas aircraft has crashed," it said.

Qantas spokeswoman Emma Kearns in Sydney, Australia, said there were no reports of injuries and that the airline had not received any reports of an explosion on board.